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Site-Reference newsletter article by Holly Berkley is reprinted here.

Building a Trustworthy Web Presence is essential for Nonprofits & Charities

by Holly Berkley

While all types of companies will benefit from building a more trustworthy and credible online presence, for the nonprofit industry, this concept is the cornerstone to success in new media marketing efforts. While we continue to see competitive industries like travel and automotive benefit from exploring the latest in new media marketing strategies, nonprofits and charities can keep things simpler. For these groups, it is more about the web site design itself and how it makes the visitor feel. For these groups, it is absolutely essential that their web site not only reflect the organization’s values and goals, but portray a credible and professional online image that will encourage donors or volunteers to want to get involved with the organization.

Users are becoming more and more accustom to researching not only products and service online before they buy, but also charities and nonprofit organizations before they donate or get involved. In fact according to Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report, 65 percent of donors visit the web sites of charities they support and 40 percent always go online before making a giving decision. From 2003 to 2004, online donations increased more than 50 percent. On average, donors who contribute online tend to give slightly more overall (over 50 percent more) than donors who do not contribute online. Therefore for nonprofits hoping to attract more donors, having a well designed web site is absolutely essential.

In addition to having a professional web company design your nonprofit site, the following items should also be implemented to help give your site a more trustworthy appearance and to encourage visitors to take the actions you have intended.

1.Identify what exactly you want visitors to do when they find your site, whether it be to volunteer, donate money or some other action. Once you have determined this, every page on your web site should encourage visitors to take this action. This same rule applies to commercial sites as well, and is covered more in Chapter 7 “Getting your Web site Ready for the Campaign”. However I mention it in this section especially because I see so many nonprofit and charity sites that do not have any call to action on their sites, and do not encourage users to take the obvious intended actions.

2.Anytime you are asking a user to provide payment information online, whether it is for a donation or purchasing an item, providing a physical address and phone number is key to establishing trust. Make that contact information clear, and even go so far as posting it at the bottom of every page, in addition to the contact us section of the site.

3.Designing a trustworthy, professional site does not mean your site has to be boring. It is okay to take some design risks and most importantly show your personality! When I recently spoke to a group on nonprofits about web marketing, one of the audience members asked me to review their nonprofit site which was targeted to helping the performing arts. Their site was very dull, lacking color and imagery that would attract those creative people who would most likely donate and participate in such an organization. Be sure your site “talks” to your audience and gets them excited about your mission, by targeting the colors, design, imagery and tone of the site to those who would most like to get involved.

4.Treat your web site visitors in a manner that is true to your organization’s mission and values. In other words, if your organization supports the visually impaired or elderly, be sure your web site contains larger, easy to read text and is overall ADA compliant.

5.Keep your web site content up-to-date. If your homepage still showcases a fundraising event you did three years ago, or lists press releases from last year under “Whats New”, people will be less likely to donate online and/or take your organization seriously. Outdated web sites make users weary of not only getting involved but especially in providing any payment information. They wonder, if no one is taking the time to update the web site, are they taking the time to make sure my money is spent the right way? In other words, an outdated web site makes a visitor wonder if the whole organization is still active, and if so, does it have the man-power to carry out the groups’ mission.

6.The primary reason people visit a nonprofit or charity site is to confirm their decision of whether or not they want to donate or get involved. Therefore, make this information easy to find by including it in the primary navigation, as well as on every page of the site.

7.Finally, anytime you ask for money online, you need to provide very detailed information about where the money will go. Make the donor feel safe about giving their money and trust that it will be in good hands.

About this author

Holly Berkley is the CEO and Director of Internet Marketing for San Diego Based Internet Marketing and Technology Consulting company Vantage Internet Services, Inc (www.VantageInternet.com). The above is an excerpt from her book Marketing in the New Media. You can download a free chapter from the book at http://www.vantageinternet.com/holly_berkley.html

These and many more Internet Marketing article, news and resources can be found at www.site-reference.com

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